Shadow Queen Replay
by TunaForDesert
Summary: Chapter 1: Kirishima Hiromi asked who the foreign student with blue hair was. He watched Suzuran's bloody battleground as if it was a mere chess board.


Suzuran High School had watched countless of bloody wars between power factions who hungered after her throne. Generation after generation of endless fighting, it was an infinite cycle. Yet, despite the centuries that have passed, no one had managed to claim the throne. Daily fights between class leaders were nothing more than a way to gain more territory and followers.

Today, Suzuran witnessed yet another war, featuring the long-reigning Beast, Serizawa Tamao, against the undefeated Takiya Genji. The ground was drenched with rain and blood. War cries and the sounds of steel slicing through flesh enhanced the gruesome battle that pulled even the bystanders in.

In a nearby school building, three pairs of anticipating eyes watched calmly from the second story window. The Ebizuka Middle School Trio, Kirishima Hiromi, Honjo Toshiaki, and Sugihara Makoto, did not join any factions, but they were not completely neutral either. The only neutral power in Suzuran was Rindaman, and the mysterious bulky second year was nowhere to be seen. He was probably watching from somewhere obscure, waiting, just like them.

Serizawa's army was pushing Takiya's. It wasn't very noticeable, not to untrained eyes, but to them, it was clear that Takiya's army was slowly losing their footing. Serizawa's men were slowly overwhelming them, without the two bosses exchanging fists.

Less than two minutes later, the table turned when the Armored Front arrived in Takiya's favor. The bike gang, led by Bando Hideto, a recent second year transfer student, pushed back; it was a strange sight to see since he was never seen on the school grounds until _now_.

Kirishima ran his hand through his spiky short black hair, grinning slightly in excitement. Who would have guessed that Takiya Genji made a powerful ally out of _Bando_ _Hideto _of all people? Last he heard, the two were on completely different sides; some misunderstanding about Bando following a subordinate of Serizawa's command to take away someone precious from Takiya.

Bando couldn't be that forgiving. His men were beaten up badly to the point that some were hospitalized. Either way, this development opened an opportunity for Takiya to win.

"Why are the Armored Front here? I thought they had nothing with Suzuran."

A calm and soft voice, which did not match Suzuran's rough tone and rude language, asked. Sugihara was the first to turn to the voice, his twin braids whipping with his head as the motion attracted Honjo to follow next, the surgical mask hiding his reaction.

Kirishima followed more slowly and to their side were two high school students. Their uniform told that they were not Suzuran's students. They had the aura and height needed to intimidate the freshmen, not that their height actually mattered since Suzuran's Beast was relatively short, but their uniforms were too clean and pristine for Suzuran students; the blue linings on their unzipped gakuran were also another giveaway.

The taller of the two had shocking red hair with strands of brown mixed in, wearing a white shirt under his gakuran. The other one, who wore a black shirt, looked vaguely familiar to Kirishima, sporting bleached silver hair with several earrings on his ears.

They were not students from their school. So what were they doing here?

"You were too busy with Inter High that you missed the feud between the three. I'll update you after this." The silver haired stated, most likely answering a question that presumably came from the redhead.

"So I did."

Kirishima blinked at the same voice that _did not_ come from the redhead since the redhead's lips were shut tight. He also did not appear to be paying attention to his companion. The voice appeared to be amused, but the redhead was watching at the battle below with a wild look. _Where_ did it come from?

Kirishima squinted, unsure what this action would bring, but he knew there was something he was missing. _Then_, he saw what he wanted.

It was a small figure, hidden in between the two high school students who seemed massive compared to him. Kirishima noted with slight bewilderment that the small figure had light blue hair, short, and tidy, another contrast to Suzuran's standards.

He was watching the war with tranquil eyes, but the slight smirk on his face told the world that he was amused. Unlike the other two, he wore his uniform neatly. He had delicate features, with big eyes and milky soft skin. What was someone as frail looking as him doing in the bloody ground of Suzuran? He would not survive a day with those pretty boy's looks.

"Tamao-kun is already defeated. Why is he still struggling? Is it because of Tokio-san?"

Kirishima stored away the information from the presumed freshman; with how young he looked, what else could he be? Though, it puzzled him as to hear the bluenette on a first name basis with the top two men in Suzuran. But the more essential question that baffled him was _how the fuck does he know that when Serizawa was beating the fuck out of Takiya_?

Kirishima betted his money on Takiya but even that was mostly out of faith than concrete knowledge.

A few moments later, Serizawa finally fell, leaving Takiya standing alone with a bloodied fist. Makise Takashi of class C cried out the first cheer, followed by others who were on Takiya's side. Tamura Chuta and Izaki Shun celebrated silently, catching their leader's falling figure before it hit the ground.

Kirishima's eyes, however, fell onto the defeated side rather than the winning one. Serizawa was answering a phone that was held by one of his subordinates. A few seconds later, he relayed whatever message he was given to his friends, who looked close to tears at his words. They were not crying because of the defeat, Kirishima realized with a jolt. No, there was not an ounce of anguish in their face. They were crying from _relief_.

"It seemed that Tokio-san won his battle. Now it'll be him who brags about winning instead of Tamao-kun."

The foreign student closed his eyes with a serene smile; it was obvious that he knew something that Kirishima didn't.

"Ah, that's one, no, two problems out of way. Winter Cup is coming up. Oi, Bakagami, don't screw up this time." The silver haired one sneered at the redhead.

The redhead scowled, "Shut up."

As Kirishima contemplated the strange name; after all, what kind of cruel parents would name their kid _Baka_gami? But his attention was soon directed towards the smaller male, who had locked his eyes on him. Kirishima returned the stare without flinching and with a bit of hostility.

"Ah, have we bothered you? I apologize for my friends' poor behavior."

The arguing duo finally realized that they were under the suspicious scrutiny of Kirishima, Honjo, and Sugihara. The silver haired one cracked his fingers immediately, putting aside his feud in favor of giving the Ebizuka Trio a nasty glare. Kirishima grimaced as Sugihara also glared behind his sunglasses.

"You wanna go at it punk?"

Ah, it was as if he was made of Suzuran material. The redhead on the other hand, looked torn between running away and protecting their small friend.

"Sure, kid." Honjo took the bait and stepped forward. Even with the surgical mask hiding his lower face, Kirishima knew his longtime friend was grinning savagely. The fight had both him and Sugihara in a fighting spirit; though, Kirishima honestly felt tired instead.

"Stop it, Haizaki-kun."

"Stop it, Honjo."

The small one spoke at the same time with Kirishima, causing an awkward silence to stop the two of them immediately. The small one offered Kirishima an apologetic smile, though it didn't look genuine at all. Kirishima gave him a contemplating stare that was bordering malicious.

"Who are you guys?"

"Just some spectators who happened to be here at the most convenient time."

"You think we're stupid?" Sugihara sneered and stepped forward to stand beside Honjo. Kirishima almost felt like strangling his two friends. Almost.

"I'll ask again. And this time, I won't tolerate riddles." Kirishima turned fully to the foreign students. Giving his full condescending look, he opened his mouth.

"Tetsuya!"

All six of them turned to the door, where Serizawa (Kirishima checked the ground briefly to make sure it was not his ghost, just in case) was standing with a gape. His shirt was torn and dirtied by mud and blood. His mouth had been wiped hastily to remove the blood, although whoever did it did a poor job.

"You were supposed to be with Tokio!" Serizawa strode in; the Mikami Brothers of class B, Tokaji Yuji, and Tsutsumoto Shoji followed behind him, also gaping at the small one.

"There was no need." The small one calmly took a seat and crossed his legs. He gazed up at the group of bloody teenagers with blank eyes. "Tokio-san can handle his own battles. That was a vulgar one, by the way. Wars are always messy."

"Dammit Tetsuya, stop criticizing us!" Serizawa groaned and fell onto the ground. Tsutsumoto kneeled beside his leader to make sure the idiot did not have any lethal injuries.

"Who's the red one?" Tokaji lifted his chin to point at the redhead beside the small one. He looked awkward standing there, unlike his snickering silver haired companion.

"He's Kagami Taiga. I guess Rin-chan didn't tell you anything." The silver haired one answered.

"When did he ever?" Tokaji rolled his eyes.

"Ah, it's the Ebizuka Trio." _Finally_, somebody noticed them. Even if it was one of the Mikami Brothers, who Kirishima never bothered with, he appreciated the gesture. Serizawa turned to them passively, before dismissing them in favor of falling asleep.

"Oh," the silver haired one turned to Kirishima and his friends, eying them interestedly. "So you guys are the Ebizuka Trio. Congrats for getting into Suzuran, then. Good luck in trying to take Izaki down."

The mention of Kirishima's senior since middle school had him narrowing his eyes. "Who are you guys? You're not from this school."

"Obviously." The redhead, Kagami, muttered before the small one jabbed his ribs, _painfully_.

"I apologized again for my friends' rudeness. I'm Kuroko Tetsuya. Nice to meet you." The small one, _Kuroko_, answered with a slight bow.

Then the silver haired one smirked, "I'm Haizaki Shougo"

_That_ caught their attention.

"You…weren't you the one who beat up Suzuran's students two years ago?" Sugihara tensed immediately. Honjo flexed his shoulders with a frown. Fighting was inevitable, then.

"Hey, hey," Haizaki held up his hands, "I'm not here to fight. I haven't been in a proper fight since school started!"

"Honestly, Haizaki-kun." Kuroko sighed before standing up. He turned to Kirishima and bowed. "It was nice meeting you, but I'm afraid we have to go now. I have someone waiting in the hospital. Speaking of which," Kuroko narrowed his eyes at Serizawa's underlings, "why aren't any of you heading there yet?"

Kirishima watched and managed not to gasp as the feared generals of Serizawa's army _flinched_.

"The reason is…" Tsutsumoto trailed off.

"There are too many people right now who have more severe injuries. The hospital will be crowded." Tokaji jumped in to save him. "We can fix ourselves. It's just broken bones, noses, and scratches. There's nothing to be worried about."

"Is that so." Kuroko walked to the door, his two companions followed his small footsteps easily. He then turned again to ask one more question. "Does this mean Takiya Genji-kun is the King of Suzuran now?"

"He's not." Tokaji answered quickly, bitter about the defeat perhaps. "He has Rindaman to go through first. And even after then, he still has _you_ to worry about. Nobody can truly be the King of Suzuran. The closest one had been Serizawa. That's why you exposed yourself to him, didn't you? And Rindaman."

Tokaji sounded accusing at the two last sentences. Kuroko smiled mysteriously and answered, "Perhaps."

The silence was so tense that Kirishima was sure someone would have vomited by now. He watched Kuroko walked through the sea of injured bodies, not stepping on any, while Haizaki and Kagami followed behind him. The three of them were holding translucent umbrellas even though the rain had mostly stopped by now.

"Who is he?" he asked, wanting anyone to at least give him an answer. Kuroko had stopped in front of Izaki, who accidentally dropped Chuta once; the fake blond's eyes landed on Kuroko. Kirishima's senior from middle school obviously knew him. He could have asked him, but he knew Izaki would haven't nearly know as much as Serizawa and his underlings.

Tsutsumoto gulped and looked down at his leader's sleeping face, "He's someone who held more power in Suzuran than anyone. He's the reason why there's no King yet. He's the reason Serizawa is as messed up as he is now. The feud in Suzuran has gone longer and deeper than we know."

Kirishima watched Izaki stand in front of Kuroko, stunned in disbelief.

"I guess you can say," Tokaji smiled grimly. "He's the Queen."

"A Queen who stays out of plain sight, who stays in the shadows, and only shows up when it pleases him." Tsutsumoto continued, his dreadlocks hiding his face. "He makes his plans quietly and executes them without anyone knowing. He has pieces he can move freely because they worship the ground he walks on."

"What's up with that messed up description?" Honjo muttered in irritation, but his discomfort was not entirely hidden. "He's not even a student here."

"That's the whole point of staying out of plain sight, you dumbass. He'd stick out like a sore thumb in here."

Kirishima watched Izaki slowly move out of Kuroko's line of view, giving him a full view of Takiya being supported by Makise. Kuroko dismissively walked pass Izaki and approached Takiya who looked up hazily at the unfamiliar face.

"Who are you?" Takiya slurred.

Kirishima watched Kuroko, standing in the midst of an aftermath of war like a Valkyrie, applauding the brave warriors and choosing the most significant one.

"Congratulation, Takiya Genji-kun. You've come out as the victor of this war. If you need anything, tell me. My name is Kuroko Tetsuya. Nice to meet you."

Kirishima watched Takiya slowly taking Kuroko's hand, confused but too tired to make any more sense. Izaki stood behind Takiya anxiously, as if he knew the significant of that single handshake.

"Welcome to Suzuran."

Kirishima watched Kuroko smiled, hidden from people around him but not to Kirishima. He repeated one sentence someone had said earlier that semester.

"Looks like we've come to one crazy school."

* * *

End chapter.

**A/N**: I was so relieved nobody got angry for real. Thank you a thousand times. I hope this makes up for it. More chapters will be posted. I don't think there's anybody who's more surprised than I was when I found out Izaki's full name. Like, seriously? That's a sweet coincidence.

* * *

黒子のバスケ © Fujimaki Tadatoshi

Edited version © AokazuSei


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